The 400 Blows - Truffaut 1959

The 400 Blows, is a film set in Paris in 1959, and is about a boy who has trouble at school, a mother who does not want him, and a father who is not really his father. This is a 'New Wave' french film, in the way it does not convey a Hollywood style narrative, where there is a beginning, middle and end. The film begins with a sight seeing tour of Paris, but not a particularly glamours one, that we see in the modern day films, or even from a tourist point of view. It is the side of Paris that not many people see, the side that puts you in the place of the children, and people who lived in Paris at the time of the 50's and 60's. It portrays the life of what people had, and the not so beautifully painted picture, that people have always had, when they think about Paris. The film illustrates the struggle of childhood, and how children need that sense of direction, and guidance, and support, otherwise they will turn the other way, and do things that affect their lives, and not to mention the lives of others. The child in the film, is lost, and does not have the support or trust, of his parents or his teachers. He feels as if no one will believe him, so he lies straight away, which makes his teacher think he plagiarized his essay. The child goes through so many experiences, and they all have to do with choice. The final freeze frame, feels as if it comes full circle, because he has come to the beach, somewhere he has always wanted to go, and that final realization that he has to go back, because there is nothing to take him away, and escape from what he is leaving. Reality sinks in and he realizes that life isn't that easy. He must go back, and face the consequences, otherwise he will become exactly what other people thought that he was, and would become. The film was interesting in the way it ended, because it didn't really explain anything to the audience of what he actually became, but it left the audience wondering, which was a better reaction that no reaction at all.